Stones

The short story Stones was written by Timothy Findley in 1988. Timothy Findley was a Canadian playwright and novelist from Toronto.  It is also rumoured that he had a small part in a movie “John Cabot: A Man of the Renaissance”  but it was never know if he was or not. 

Dieppe

                So, the short story Stones is about a family in the WWII era, and the hardships they suffered because of the ongoing war.  The narrator of this story is one of the sons in the story, named Ben.  Ben’s father, like many other men, was called into the line of duty to fight for the Canadian military in WWII.  The father was sent to Dieppe and he ditched, turned back and left the other men to fight for themselves.  Because of his actions, the father was dishonorably discharged from the Canadian military and was sent back home with shame on his shoulders and in his face.  The father is having a hard time dealing with the events of the war and the outcome of his actions and is seemingly insane.  After strangling and almost killing the mother, he leaves home and lives alone for the rest of his life.  The son takes his ashes and spreads them all over Dieppe.

                I found this story very intriguing because it shows a very real part of many families lives who lived through WWII,  at first their lives were normal and happy, then suddenly everything was ripped apart by the turmoil of WWII.